Advice for Bard.... (Fighting Casters.)

[Lizardtheinsane]

Anyone out there mind giving me a little advice. I'm not too proud to ask. [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.] On EQ Live I soloed my Bard to like Level 45. Here on P99 I just got Level 21 the other night.

I got taken out by a caster (Necromancer.) that conned Light Blue to me. Actually the mob killed me twice, lost my level and almost died a third time.... Christ it's like I didn't even have a chance.

Currently I'm wearing a set of Banded Armor. Don't recall where my SV Magic is at. Should I be trying to Mesmerize while twisting AE damage songs or what? Dual Weld tanking while twisting Heal and AE Damage did me no good. My head it still spinning from this. LOL. It was traumatic.

I'm used to kiting so any advice on how to go toe to toe with a caster would be appreciated.

Thanks.

[Chicka]

Well mez is a cast interupt...

[falkun]

First off, why are you trying to solo casters? There's a whole world of melee only mobs that are just begging to run around in circles.

If you are going to attempt to solo casters, I'd recommend just chain force-casting mez. My experience w/ the L15 mez has been that it lasts greater than 1 force sing (3sec), but less than the auto-pulse if you leave the song running. It does very well at interrupting, but doesn't leave you any really good shots at twisting.

[Rasah]

Now that Kunark is upon us, South Karana is no longer overcamped. Except for the shadow men, I think everything else in the zone is a warrior. You could probably do the next 10 levels in relative peace and quiet.

My apologies to those that are currently enjoying SK.

[Mcbard]

At higher levels when farming casters I like to use the 3 targetable dots and mez, and if you time it just right you should be able to basically lock a caster in place. Plan around the dot ticks, and start singing mez about 3-4 seconds after the dot damage is done because that is when the next round of dots are going to hit and break mez.

you should have no problem doing something like:
1) dot
2) mez
3) dot
4) mez
5) dot

It's all about timing. If your hp gets low at some point, let the dots run their course, then keep the mob locked with mez and twist in regen for yourself. If it's a mob with a pet I would recommend charming it first to kill the pet and not having to worry about it.

In tight spaces where I can't kite, I think I honestly prefer fighting caster mobs to melee mobs. A mob that can't do anything except begin to cast spells and never resolve them is a hell of a lot easier to defeat then one that is going to whack you everytime mez breaks.

[Lizardtheinsane]

This is good advice guys, Thanks.

I got on last night and was so pissed about loosing my level that I went back to East Karana and got it back PLUS the next TWO levels in a matter of a few hours. Playing a bard is exciting for sure. [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

The whole thing that happened here was I ran into my all time favorite Necromancer, Pyzjn in the Qeynos Hills. My first encounter with her in P99 and can ya believe she was wearing the GBS? I couldn't. I thought, she's light Blue to me. I can get this GBS, sell it and be on easy street for awhile. lol. Yea right.

After dying I ran back up from Qeynos (Twice.) and she was still there.... This is unheard of.... Each time tried something different but it just wasn't happening. That's my luck. The only thing worse that camping that Beatch and never seeing her or the GBS is running into her AND the GBS and you can't kill her.... It literally ruined my whole weekend. My first encounter with her in Live was the same. she had the GBS. lol. What are the chances.

I was tempted by her phat loots and it got me into trouble.... Who WOULDN'T have at least tried though. [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Seriously guys thanks for the advice.

[Messianic]

Necro mobs are particularly smarter here than they were on live, imo...

[Dr4z3r]

You'll have no problem getting to 26 on EK/SK mobs.

Past that, you can twist this on single casters for zero damage:

1) Fear
2) Snare
3) Dot 1
4) Dot 2
5) Fear
6) Snare
7) Dot 3 (lvl 30)
8) Dot 4 (lvl 38)